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Mother Arrested For Leaving Her Kids In A Park While She Went To A Food Bank

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Malyse

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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/08/15/3471673/mother-arrested-children-food-bank/

Police arrested Ashley Richardson, a mother in Winter Haven, Florida, on Tuesday after they found her four children playing alone in a park while she went to a local food bank.

An officer saw the children, who range in age from six to eight, playing in a park alone and said they waved her over when the eight-year-old got stuck in a toddler’s swing, which required assistance from fire rescue personnel to get him out. She also said they played near a road and in water along the lakefront.

When Richardson, 28, returned to the park, she was arrested. She told the officers that she had gone to a food bank and didn’t think it would take as long as it had. She’s now facing four counts of negligent child abuse without bodily harm.
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Lock if old.
 
While the situation for her children is far less than ideal, Police Chief Gary Hester had strong words for her. “I met some pretty mature 6, 7, 8-year-olds but you don’t leave them unattended,” he said. “I guess the question we should be asking is this 28-year-old mother, should she be left unattended. Doesn’t look like she’s mature enough to be a parent. She’s being supervised today in the county jail. Hopefully she learns her lesson.”
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What an asshole.
 
Back when I was in elementary school, I would walk from my house to the city park to play. No adult supervision, no worries. I also rode my bike 1 mile to school every day. Should a parent be arrested for letting their child walk/ride their bike to school too since they are unattended?
 
perfectchaos007 said:
Back when I was in elementary school, I would walk from my house to the city park to play. No adult supervision, no worries. I also rode my bike 1 mile to school every day. Should a parent be arrested for letting their child walk/ride their bike to school too since they are unattended?
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If you don't drive your kids everywhere in a bulletproof air-conditioned new-model SUV you're not just a bad parent, you're probably breaking the law.
 
This is really unfortunate for that mother. Sure it might not have been the best decision, however, an arrest record is going to hurt her and her children much more.
 
An officer saw the children, who range in age from six to eight, playing in a park alone and said they waved her over when the eight-year-old got stuck in a toddler’s swing, which required assistance from fire rescue personnel to get him out.
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Am I the only one who noticed this?
 
I have a feeling this is pretty much going to be a repeat of the topic from a month ago of the mother who left her daughter in the park while she was at work.

Kids playing in the park - news at 11!


EDIT: And both this and that other are in Florida too.
G/A/F and all that.
 
Perspicacity said:
smh should've just hired a babysitter if she was going off to do some frivolous shopping
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oh man I'm going to hell. I laughed.


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This is straight bullshit.

Give her a warning or something. What does arresting her prove, exactly? It is punitive rather than corrective. Just stupid.
 
I'm real curious when the last time all y'all "why didn't she take them" folk actually took some kids anywhere. Four kids is a fucking nightmare at best; I can hardly deal with two with assistance.
 
Such a shitty situation. It's really unfair how poor people are treated. They're trying to feed their children and don't have any other options and yet get punished.

It reminds me of that story regarding the lady trying to get a job and when it took longer than expected, she got arrested for child neglect for leaving her kids in the car even though she was in a desperate position and was trying so hard to get a job.
 
Wazzy said:
Such a shitty situation. It's really unfair how poor people are treated. They're trying to feed their children and don't have any other options and yet get punished.

It reminds me of that story regarding the lady trying to get a job and when it took longer than expected, she got arrested for child neglect for leaving her kids in the car even though she was in a desperate position and was trying so hard to get a job.
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Just makes you want to cry. Why couldn't they just talk to the mother and remind her of the danger while also recommending some affordable daycare/options (ha, I know), or public assistance locations that can be accommodating (inside playground or waiting area with books/toys) or... something. How does this help anyone? It just keeps this shit cycle going.
 
I walked home all the time when I was elementary school. I guess its a good thing I am not black and poor since otherwise my parents might have been arrested.
 
H.Protagonist said:
Just makes you want to cry. Why couldn't they just talk to the mother and remind her of the danger while also recommending some affordable daycare/options (ha, I know), or public assistance locations that can be accommodating (inside playground or waiting area with books/toys) or... something. How does this help anyone? It just keeps this shit cycle going.
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Yep, now she is going to have a criminal record, making it even harder to get a job. Unless there is more negligence than the story is letting on, this benefits no one.
 
Amon37 said:
Apples and oranges for one and for two she should be able to keep the kids in line. It's not really that difficult
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If parenting weren't difficult I'd pop out a kid right this second.
I'm a guy so I'll have to find a girl but I'll do it if you prove to me parenting is not that dififcult

Maybe she wanted to let her kids play in the park and assumed they where old enough? I played in the park by myself around that age with other kids and I didn't exactly grew up in a suburb.

Sucks that these kids got into trouble but hell this shit could have easily happened to my sister who used to leave my niece/nephews alone to work all the time when we where really young and we got into some trouble too but nothing for anyone to get jailtime for.
 
She's in a shitty situation being that young with 4 kids but she really shouldn't have left them alone like that. Putting her in jail or fucking up her record is a really backwards solution though. How about sending her to some parenting classes or something?
 
metalslimer said:
Yep, now she is going to have a criminal record, making it even harder to get a job. Unless there is more negligence than the story is letting on, this benefits no one.
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I imagine it must be hard a cop who sees shit everyday not to think the worst of people, but if they (and us all, really) could just stop for one second and think empathy and compassion might net better results here, we'd all live in a better world.
 
H.Protagonist said:
Just makes you want to cry. Why couldn't they just talk to the mother and remind her of the danger while also recommending some affordable daycare/options (ha, I know), or public assistance locations that can be accommodating (inside playground or waiting area with books/toys) or... something. How does this help anyone? It just keeps this shit cycle going.
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Exactly.

It's a lose-lose for these parents. They either don't feed their children and themselves due to no other options helping take care of their children while they work and shop which ends up with their kids being taken away or they find any way to still feed their family even if it's risky and that ends up with them getting punished like like this.

I wish society would offer better support, more jobs and better wages but it's what many have been fighting to change for years. :/
 
I feel bad that she was getting her kids food, but as a parent I would never leave my kids unsupervised at that age are you kidding me? Can you imagine if they went missing, or worse someone took them.

I'm just glad the kids are safe.
 
Four little ducks went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
Mother duck said "quack quack quack quack",
Now she's serving time for a felony
 
H.Protagonist said:
I imagine it must be hard a cop who sees shit everyday not to think the worst of people, but if they (and us all, really) could just stop for one second and think empathy and compassion might net better results here, we'd all live in a better world.
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Wazzy said:
Exactly.

It's a lose-lose for these parents. They either don't feed their children and themselves due to no other options helping take care of their children while they work and shop which ends up with their kids being taken away or they find any way to still feed their family even if it's risky and that ends up with them getting punished like like this.

I wish society would offer better support, more jobs and better wages but it's what many have been fighting to change for years. :/
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http://youtu.be/97nAvTVeR6o
 
Piecake said:
I walked home all the time when I was elementary school. I guess its a good thing I am not black and poor since otherwise my parents might have been arrested.
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It's different times these days. I used to roam the neighborhood when I was quite young, but my 2 daughters (8 and 9) have pretty much never been out of earshot of a supervising adult. You drive around during the day most places and you almost never see kids playing alone outside. The expectations of parents have changed dramatically since my youth.

As to this story; she shouldn't be arrested, but it's hard to deny that it appears like neglect when the fire department is rescuing your 8 year old that you left at the park supervising your 6 your old. There were certainly going to be some repercussions once the FD was involved, but arresting her seems like complete overkill.
 
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